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UAF & "Azov" Looted Civilian Targets in Shirokino – UN Report

Translated by Ollie Richardson for Fort Russ

31st May, 2016

Politnavigator

The mission of the Office of the High Commissioner of the UN, in its regular report on the observance of human rights, said that members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and militants of the "Azov" battalion were engaged in the looting of civilian property in the village of Shirokino, which has long been on the border between the positions of the UAF and the army of the DPR, but in the end were captured by the Ukrainian side.

The report says that the looting of civilian property in the village of Shirokino has led to migration flows and the emergence of civilian refugees.

Paragraph 25 of the report says: "The Ukrainian Armed Forces and armed groups held their ground and brought their weapons and personnel deeper into populated areas, thus violating their obligations under international humanitarian law."

Shirokino, a key locality in the "gray zone" between the government-controlled city of Mariupol and the city of Novoazovsk is under the control of armed groups. The OHCHR (the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN) has documented the widespread use of civilian buildings and facilities by the Ukrainian military and the "Azov" battalion, as well as the looting of civilian property, which led to migration.